I walked, recently, from Crystal Palace to Forest Hill via Sydenham and Dulwich. I am really beginning to appreciate the green spaces within South London, and really enjoyed walking through Sydenham Hill Wood, which has a local nature reserve, and its neighbouring Dulwich Wood.
What I discovered was a disused railway, which has been reclaimed by nature within the nature reserve and surrounding woods. The Crescent Wood Tunnel was part of the (now dismantled) Nuneaton to Crystal Palace line. It now houses a hibernaculum for long-eared bats – which was built by the London Wildlife Trust.
Further along, I came across the Cox’s Lane Footbridge. This footbridge crossed over the Nunhead to Crystal Palace railway line, which opened in 1865 to serve visitors to the Crystal Palace (which was located in Crystal Palace Park). After the 1936 fire which destroyed the Crystal Palace, the line lost much of its traffic, and was closed in 1954.